In response to the petition circulating to make all undergraduate classes have a mandatory pass/fail grading criteria:
To President Assanis and Provost Morgan,Â
Although some peer institutions have started to mandate that all undergraduate classes transition to a pass/fail grading scale, I believe that for many this would be incredibly detrimental and overall, would do more harm than good for the majority of students.Â
As quoted in the original petition:
“Many students are returning home to conditions that are not conducive to the intensive learning that most college courses, as originally designed, demand. Some students — especially the many New Yorkers in our student body — are returning to the coronavirus itself, faced with fear of infection and anxieties over the health of loved ones, as they are simultaneously expected to succeed in their coursework.”
“Others have new responsibilities at home, where at-risk family members may be presently forced to rely on younger family members for such basic tasks as purchasing groceries and going to the pharmacy. Some, prevented from going to alternative study spaces, such as public libraries and cafes, will be forced to attempt to learn and complete homework in home environments that, for these reasons and others, such as poor internet connectivity, will prevent them from performing to the standards they are capable of.”
I am in agreement with the statement made by my peers, however going to a pass/fail curriculum would introduce a new set of difficulties for many students, myself included. I am a graduating senior. I do not have any opportunity after this semester to bring my GPA up. I anticipated that this semester would help my GPA prior to the COVID-19 crisis and I am still hopeful that it will. Although I understand and empathize with my peers who may be going to worse situations than I am in, I do not believe that it is equitable to force all students to go to pass/fail. Students who want to work for a letter grade should not have this right stripped during an already difficult semester in which the situation in our lives seems to change daily.Â
Grading standards will probably change for many. However, we are currently living through the crisis of a generation and if that means some grade inflation or more relaxed curriculums are implemented, then so be it.Â
Furthermore, this is a lot to ask of professors, who for the most part have spent the extended spring break rewriting syllabi to reflect the current situation. I am taking five classes. In each of these my professors have expressed their understanding that for some of us students, the transition to online will be more difficult and therefore accommodations are already being provided. Zoom is an excellent resource, however one of many accommodations that I’ve seen so far include attendance no longer being accounted for and Zoom sessions being recorded for students who may have worse internet access. Leniency with deadlines, a few less semester assignments, and other accommodations are already being made. One class I am in even pushed all deadlines until May. Everyone involved knows that the transition to online will be met with difficulty, but making classes pass/fail will not make the transition less difficult.
I disagree with the statement that optional pass/fail is such a heinous plan. As quoted in the petition:
“Some institutions are seeking a middle ground, allowing for students to opt-in to a pass/fail grading system while still receiving credit toward degrees. We strongly discourage this policy. As noted, those in conditions that better allow for success and academic continuity will arbitrarily benefit, while others, though not directly punished by lower grades, will be forced to explain their decision to opt for pass/fail to employers and graduate schools.”
I believe that plenty of post-graduate institutions and employers will understand that this is an incredibly unprecedented time to be living through and will not penalize candidates who CHOOSE to do pass/fail this semester over those who do not. Furthermore, I am going to graduate school in the fall. I have already been accepted, but I still need to send in my final semester transcripts. Sending in an entire semester of pass/fail classes to an institution who is not implementing this as mandatory protocol may alternatively view this as negligible. I know many seniors who are in the same situation and are terrified of losing their spots in programs due to this possible outcome.Â
Although my peers noted in their petition that some letter grades should be accepted case-by-case, I cannot help but wonder if it may be more feasible to go the alternative route and make pass/fail a case-by-case situation. I believe far more students will want to work for letter grades than not. As I mentioned earlier, those who are in worse educational situations should still have the option of making a class pass/fail if need be. My peers often note in their petition that students will have more semesters to take classes that they need letter grades for, however for the five thousand or so graduating seniors there is no option for this. This is our final semester to raise our GPA for employers and post-graduate education.Â
The expansion of winter and summer sessions will do nothing for graduating seniors. Furthermore, the COVID-19 crisis may continue through the summer and therefore extended summer session offerings would not do much to alleviate the problem of an entire semester of pass/fail classes.Â
In point three of the petition made by my peers they discuss an additional week of the add/drop period. I agree with every point made in this statement, these changes should absolutely be implemented. Found here:
“3. Restore the Drop/Add Period for a Week”
“Lives of university community members remain in day-to-day flux, and commitments that seemed sensible in February are no longer feasible under current circumstances. Students may, for instance, find themselves enrolled in courses that do not count toward degree requirements, and that do not make sense to remain enrolled in in a digitized format. As noted under the first proposal, students are returning home to new and difficult circumstances, and might reasonably hope to eliminate otherwise unnecessary responsibilities. They should be permitted to do so free of charge, and without any undesirable impact on their transcripts. Upon the resumption of courses next week, we propose re-opening the Drop/Add period for no less than one week, so that students might reassess their decisions and commitments in light of these entirely unforeseen circumstances.”
In conclusion, although students should have the opportunity to change their grading scale to pass/fail for particular classes and the add/drop period should be expanded in this completely unprecedented circumstance, mandatory pass/fail would do more harm than good.Â
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Signed,
Kaylee Giacomini
Student, Graduating Senior, President & Editor in Chief of Her Campus Media UD